Cuticle pusher



Oct. 28, 1952 L QHMAN 2,615,453

CUTICLE FUSHER Filed Jan. 11 1951 INVENTOR.

FIG. 3" IQ ALU S. OHMAN Maw/9% AGENT I 'Idalu s. ohmaii, Cloquet,Mi nn.

7 Application January 11, 1951, Serial No. 205,486

This invention relates to a manicuring device and has special referenceto an instru'menta-lity for use in caring for the cuticle. IT

We are all aware that manicuring of fingernails has become anestablished institution in American life, as women, particularly, notonly practice same, but make it their profession. In

the development of the manicuring art, many devices have been made foruse in caring for the cuticle; however, all of these devices have provenunsatisfactory in one way or another.

Brushes of various shapes and sizes, and with varying degrees of bristlestiffness have been used; however, these brushes do not functionentirely satisfactorily. The bristles may well in- J'ure a tendercuticle, and usually the bristles do not hold their original shape verylong.

Wooden and plastic sticks are also commonly used as cuticle pushers, thesticks being provided with variously shaped ends; some are wedge-shaped,others are cut diagonally from one side to the other, and others arepointed. These wooden or plastic sticks are usually too stiff and willreadily injure a tender cuticle.

Unless the cuticle is cared for properly, unsightly and sometimespainful hangnails develop when the cuticle is broken.

In addition to the above, these commonly used nail pushers often scratchthe fingernail or injure the so-called half-moon area at the base of thenail. Injury to this area will often cause the nail to defonn, and itmay take an extremely long period of care and treatment to nurse thenail back to normal.

It is, therefore, one of my principal objects to provide a cuticlepusher which will not injure a cuticle during its use and will not causehangnails.

Another object is to provide a cuticle pusher which will not damage thebase of a fingernail so as to cause deformities therein.

Another, more specific object, is to provide a resilient tip which hasworking faces for conveniently performing operations on a cuticle, and aholder for the tip, the tip and holder providing a compact andconvenient manicurin instrumentality.

Another object is to provide means in a cuticle pusher to prevent thescratching of a fingernailwhile the pusher is being used.

These and other objects and advantages will become more apparent as thedescription of the invention proceeds.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this application:

, v 2 1 Fig.1 is a plan view of one of my completed pushers with aplastic holder portion.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a central vertical sectional view of the pusher shown in Figs.1 and 2.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a plan View showing how the pointed end of the resilient tipmay be used.

In the drawing, the reference numeral I indicates the preferably plasticholder for the resilient tip 2.

To provide a neat holder as well as convenient gripping means for thecuticle pusher, the plastic is preferably formed along its outerperiphery to an arcuate contour as at 4 so that the outer edges of theholder are rounded, as shown, to provide a neat appearance and also toeliminate sharp or rough edges.

The holder is preferably tapered toward its outer or tip end as at 5,and the tip 2 is preferably of substantially hexagonal shape, as shown,so as to extend outwardly of the holder on each side thereof, as at 6,and has an enlarged portion I with a socket 8 therein by means of whichit is mounted on the holder. The holder I has a stem portion 9 whichextends into the opening of the holder, as shown, and cement or the likemay be used to provide a firm installation of the tip on the holder.

The tip 2 is, as mentioned above, preferably of molded rubber andhexagonal shape having relatively straight side edges Ill-l0 whichconverge to the slightly rounded outer end II. The edges l0 and end Hare beveled as at l2. This combination of straight converging side edgesand a slightly rounded tip or end portion, the side edges and endportion being beveled as shown, forms a resilient tool which proves tobe ideal for use in caring for the cuticle. The tip 2 may be employedwith either a long straight edge It), or with the end ll alone (as seenin Fig. 5), or with a portion of the end I l and side edge l0 engagingthe cuticle to press same into place and stimulate same whereby shapingof the nail may be maintained without danger of injury to either thecuticle Or the fingernail itself. In addition, the opposed straight sideedges [2 and the corners l3 which joint same with the edges l0 provideadditional areas for cuticle care, and are located admirably for work onthe side edges of the fingernail and cuticle without changing theposition of the fingers or shifting the hold on the cuticle pusher.

The socket member 1 encircles the edges of the stem 9 of the holder I asshown, forming a bead H to prevent edges of the holder from everengaging the nail or cuticle when the device is in use.

With the instant device one need not worry about broken cuticles whichresult in hangnails, nor about damaging the nail in any way, as the tip2 is resilient and the nail and cuticle are protected from engagement byanything but the resilient rubber of the tip 2. The half-moon area ofthe fingernail will not be damaged by the tip 2, so that naildeformation is eliminated.

The holder 1 has a depression ill on each side thereof to provide forconvenience in handling and manipulating the device.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

As a new article of manufacture, a device for use in manicuringfingernails consisting of a holder, a tip carried at one end of saidholder, a socket in said tip to receive said holder, said tip being ofresilient material and having the working portion thereof ofsubstantially uniform thickness throughout, a pair of converging sideedges on said working portion, and a bead surrounding said socket whereit meets said working portion to prevent the holder from causing injuryto said fingernails, said bead being integral with said tip and beingarcuately shaped so as to be substantially equi-distant from all of theworking edges of said tip whereby said Working portion may flex freelyduring use irrespective of which edge thereof is employed.

'IDALU S. OHMAN.

REFERENCES CITED i The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

